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Our Favorite Places To Shop For Vintage

If you follow along on Insta Stories, you probably know by now that I’m a big fan of vintage clothing (especially vintage Hawaiian dresses at the moment). When I was in my senior year of high school, I almost exclusively only wore vintage, but I had no idea what I was doing shopping for vintage and I always ended up in an outfit that looked slightly off. Either the fit was wrong or I thought I could just cut the shoulder pads out of a jacket and it would still look super cool. Ha! In the last few years, I’ve gotten back into shopping vintage and I feel much more at home doing so than I did years ago! I’ve been checking my favorite websites and local stores often and have been getting really lucky with some really cool finds, and a bunch of you have asked me to talk about my favorite places to buy vintage! Sooo without further ado, let’s talk about shopping!!!!

I wanted to first start off breaking down what I look at before I take the leap and buy something (especially online). Measurements are key to finding a good fit. If you’re shopping online and an item doesn’t have measurements, you can always ask the seller to send some over to you, and in person, usually this area is a bit easier with the option of trying things on. I stay away from items that are even a little too big or a little too small because I know I’ll end up feeling uncomfortable in them later. I know, I know, it hurts when you find an amazing vintage dress and it isn’t exactly the right size, but try to stick with what your gut is telling you!

The other thing I always make sure to check is the fabric. Check not only to make sure it’s a type of fabric that you like, but see if there are marks, tears, or any other imperfections that you might not be able to get out later. The above romper had a larger black stain on the one side that we can’t get out, but because of the pattern, it pretty much goes unnoticed!

Alright, if you’re still with me on this, it’s time to get into where I love to buy vintage!!!

Whurl is an app run by my friend Sam, and an amazing place to find vintage treasures from a ton of different sellers! One of the best parts of Whurl is the ability to post something that you are trying to find, like a certain designer dress, or type of pattern, and the community is able to give suggestions of what they might be selling that matches your search. This is where I buy a majority of my vintage from!

Depop is an online marketplace where people sell things from vintage clothing, to glassware and shoes. It can take some searching, but there are lots of fun vintage pieces to be found if you persist. Knowing key search terms helps narrow your results. Kyle really likes Depop for National Park memorabilia and men’s clothing.

Etsy is another online marketplace, which has been around for a long time. It has tons and tons of vendors to search through who sell everything from vintage dresses, to men’s shirts, and even vintage accessories and knick knacks. The amount of results that can come up from a search can be overwhelming, so make sure to bookmark shops that sell things your interested in, that way you can keep an eye out for when they get new items. My favorite search terms on Etsy are “vintage Hawaiian dress.” I just did this search yesterday and it came up with a lot of similar dresses to the one pictured above.

Coast to Coast has an Etsy shop as well, but I love to stalk the new arrivals section on her website for things you might not see on Etsy. Not to mention, if you check out her Instagram page, her home is like my dream home, full of color and pattern!

SO many of my favorite pieces have come from Parasol Vintage! She sells on Instagram as well as Etsy and if you watch her stories and check out the sneak peeks on Instagram, you can opt in for a tag when new pieces go live! My favorite Hawaiian dress and a rainbow skirt I’m still waiting to photograph (that you’re all going to freak out over) come from Parasol.

Friends is a quirky store that happens to be right around the corner from our apartment. It has vintage men’s and women’s clothing, but also stocks a ton of things from local Brooklyn makers, as well as places like Lazy Oaf!

10 ft single is a huge vintage store that stocks stuff from the 90’s- all the way back to the 50’s! You definitely need an hour, at least, to search through all the clothing to find that perfect piece. We found this place through another Brooklynite’s, Darling In Dots, Brooklyn vintage post here. This place probably has the biggest men’s vintage section I’ve ever seen.

This is where I bought the maxi dress and romper that you all loved last weekend! Dobbin St Vintage is owned by one of our former employees, Cassidy, and she finds some of the best 60’s and 70’s prints I’ve ever seen! I’ve literally been living in that floral romper since I got it. Dobbin St Co-op has a lot of furniture and home decor items as well if you’re looking for pieces for your home.

A Current Affair is a pop-up shop that travels across the country, and has over 150 vendors with all types of clothing. This is where I snagged my 60’s rainbow jumpsuit that I wore on my birthday! They’re headed to LA next in September, NYC again in October, and San Francisco in November. Heads up that most of these items are little pricier, but it’s because everyone shows up with their best items to sell.

Hope this all helped you out a little bit! We’re headed to LA in a few weeks and I can’t wait to show you what I find at the Rose Bowl Flea Market! If you have any other amazing tips for vintage shopping, leave them below and I’ll be sure to add them to this post!